Former bank manager pleads guilty to elder theft

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By ABC7 Archive

SAN JOSE, CA

John Tran, 37, of San Jose, is suspected of stealing $1 million
from elderly bank customers and others in about a year's span of fraud and
theft, but police have not been able to prove that total, San Jose police
Detective Leonard Lim said.

Tran was charged with the theft of about $553,000 from an elder,
as well as grand theft and forgery, according to the district attorney's
office.

Tran was a manager at the Wells Fargo Bank on Lincoln Avenue in
San Jose from March 2008 to February 2009. He was arrested in March of this
year.

He bilked money from elderly customers of the bank and others whom
he met at senior centers in the area, Lim said.

"He also made his stomping grounds adult assisted living centers,"
Lim said.

Some of the victims were tricked into investing in CDs through a
convoluted and sophisticated money laundering scheme. Instead of being
deposited into CDs, Tran routed the money to himself, authorities said.

In other cases, Tran forged signatures, including those of
deceased customers, and drained bank accounts, police said.

The bank has reimbursed all the victims and Tran has agreed to pay
$553,000 in restitution to the bank, prosecuting attorney Cherie Bourlard
said.

Half of the elderly victims have since died, including one woman
who was bilked out of more than $350,000 and died four days after Lim
interviewed her in the hospital, Lim said.

Tran's sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Anyone with information about the case, or who may have been a
victim, is asked to call Detective Lim at (408) 277-4521.